Gay democrat Pete Buttigieg has weighed in on trans rights, including trans athletes’ participation in sports, declaring that they shouldn’t be decided by “politicians in Washington”. In light of President Donald Trump’s anti-trans athletes in sports executive order, the former U.S. Transportation Secretary has urged lawmakers to make such decisions with “compassion”. “The approach starts with compassion,” Buttigieg told NPR’s Morning Edition on Monday (28 July). “Compassion for transgender people, compassion for families, especially of young people who are going through this, and also empathy for people who are not sure what all of this means for them.” He was asked whether a parent who may be worried about their child competing against a trans child in a girls’ sporting event “has a case”. Although responding, “sure”, Buttigieg rejected federal policies, like those being enacted by the Trump administration. “These decisions should be in the hands of sports leagues and school boards and not politicians, least of all politicians in Washington trying to use this as a political pawn,” Buttigieg told the outlet. The politician also noted that trans inclusion in sport is nuanced, but organisations should be “empowered… to make the right decisions”. “I think that chess is different from weightlifting, and weightlifting is different from volleyball, and middle school is different from the Olympics,” he said to the publication. “So that’s exactly why I think that we shouldn’t be grandstanding on this as politicians. We should be empowering communities, organisations, and schools to make the right decisions.” His comments come at a trying time for the trans community. The US Supreme Court are currently gearing up for multiple cases concerning state bans on trans women in sports, while Trump threatened to withhold funds from California and even sued the state over the inclusion of just one trans athlete, a high school student. A Gallup poll last month found that 69 per cent of adults in the US believe trans athletes should only be allowed to play on teams matching their assigned sex at birth, including 91 per cent of Republicans, 66 per cent of independents, and 45 per cent of Democrats. It also found that public support for trans athletes’ inclusion has been on a steady decline since 2021, when Gallup first asked the question. If this story has affected you, call the Trans Lifeline Hotline to speak to a trans/nonbinary peer operator with full anonymity and confidentiality at (877) 565-8860. Support is available Monday-Friday, 10 AM – 6 PM Pacific, 11 AM – 7 PM Mountain, 12 PM – 8 PM Central, and 1 PM – 9 PM Eastern.Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.